A Swindon-founded e-commerce agency is taking the next step in its development after becoming part of a new global digital commerce operation launched by its parent company.
Optimizon, which was founded in Swindon in 2016, officially becomes Smollan on 1 September as part of a wider move by the Smollan Group to bring six specialist digital commerce businesses together under one name.
The agency has built its reputation helping brands sell and grow across major online marketplaces including Amazon, Walmart and TikTok Shop.
While the Optimizon name is disappearing, existing customers will continue to deal with the same UK marketplace specialists and client teams. The company says the change will instead give them access to a wider range of digital commerce services.
The new Smollan Digital Commerce offering covers marketplaces, direct-to-consumer e-commerce, business-to-business e-commerce, retail media, content syndication, digital sampling and commerce technology.
For Optimizon, it marks the latest chapter in a business which has spent the past decade helping major brands navigate the increasingly complicated world of online retail.
James Pitts-Drake, Managing Director – UK & Europe, Digital Commerce at Smollan, said: “Optimizon has always been about helping brands navigate an increasingly complex e-commerce landscape and deliver measurable growth across Amazon and the world’s leading online marketplaces. That hasn’t changed.
“What has changed is the breadth of capabilities we can now offer. Through Smollan’s new Digital Commerce offering, we’re able to support brands across a much broader digital commerce journey while keeping the same specialist teams and client relationships that have always been at the heart of our business.”
The move also links the former Optimizon operation more closely with Smollan’s wider work in retail execution, field sales, merchandising, technology and shopper marketing.
The group operates across more than 60 markets, allowing brands to combine online and physical retail strategies through a single organisation.
For Optimizon, the change comes after ten years of growth.
Founded in Swindon in 2016, the company has worked with international brands including YETI, Marshall, BRITA and Mars, offering services ranging from marketplace strategy and retail media to creative content and account management.
It has also developed its own e-commerce technology, Nozzle AI.
Pitts-Drake said the change represented an opportunity to build on what had already been achieved rather than start again.
“We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built as Optimizon over the past decade,” he said.
“Becoming Smollan allows us to build on that legacy rather than leave it behind. Our marketplace expertise remains at the heart of what we do, but by combining it with Smollan’s wider capabilities we’re creating even greater opportunities for the brands we support and our people.”
The rebrand means that a business which began in Swindon a decade ago is now part of a much larger international operation, as the distinction between online and traditional retail continues to disappear.
